HEARTinator

Come on Mariners!!!!!

Interesting comment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018–19_A-League#Foreign_players Most teams only have 1 marquee while 3 teams (City, MV and SFC) have 2 marquees. We have de Laet and Bruno - since round 5 we have effectively operated with 1 marquee. Wellington have no marquees (but they sit above us). I'd say what we have got wrong is the Visa spots, Harrison and Berenguer aren't worth it while de Laet and Bart are classy, and Wazza's (mis-)management of the team and presiding over the exits of O'Halloran and Bruno. As bela says above, why have we prioritised giving a 21 year old from England experience in a senior league when we could be helping to develop any number of locally talented players?

Bozza getting stuck into Wazza saying no progress in 2 years under our short-pants-hero.

Each is just a piece in the puzzle that makes up the hopelessness that Joyce brings to coaching a senior side.

Wazza lost the dressing room with his bullshit tactics and running Bruno out of town. FFS Marwood, terminate this clown tonight!

Great goal!

We've got Kamau playing for us.

Willo with a hat-trick for the Nux so far. Get him back

Suffered concussion in training according to Garby on Foxsports just now.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/berenguer-back-for-city-as-olyroo-stars-return-with-confidence-boosted-20190329-p518v6.html Berenguer back for City as Olyroo stars return with confidence boosted By Michael Lynch March 29, 2019 — 1.21pm Melbourne City will include French forward Florin Berenguer for the visit to Western Sydney on Saturday night, but coach Warren Joyce will wait to see how his three Olyroo players - Lachlan Wales, Nathaniel Atkinson and Riley McGree - fare in the hours leading up to the game to decide which, if any, of them start. City will be without captain Scott Jamieson, who broke his toe in the 2-0 win over Sydney two weeks ago (the club's last game) and while Dario Vidosic has returned to training after a lengthy absence he is not likely to be part of the group who head north for the Saturday evening game. Jamieson's absence could see versatile utility Harrison Delbridge fill in at left back, while centre back Curtis Good is left footed and has played in that position before. Joyce is a big supporter of the under age national teams - something welcomed by Olyroo and Socceroo boss Graham Arnold - and says that his trio of players have benefited greatly from being part of the squad which went through to the final phase of Olympic Games qualification in a mini tournament in Cambodia last week. ''Three of the kids have been away with Australia, they have done extremely well. I am pleased that they have come back unscathed this morning,'' he said on Friday. ''We are delighted they have done well, we have had good feedback from Graham Arnold and his staff. I do think it really helps them,'' Joyce said, drawing on his experience earlier in his career when he was coaching Royal Antwerp in Belgium. ''I was there when their golden generation was coming through. Because their federation had more control of the clubs the best trained with the best everyday ... it challenges them and gives them a lift. It gives them experience and different experiences develop players. ''Everyone (in Australia) wants the same thing. The clubs want the best players playing for them, but you want your players to be successful, you want them to play for your country. ''The kids are absolutely buzzing that they are representing their country, they walked in last night 10 foot tall. It really gives them a lift, it's what they aspire to. ''When we challenged them at the start of the season, put demands on them to be a top pro, trying to create a culture that enables them to do that, you see the rewards and see them getting a bit of joy and recognition. They feel good about themselves.'' If Joyce opts not to play his internationals he is confident that other younger players can step up. ''Connor (Metcalfe) did well against Sydney when he came on, Ramy (Najjarine) did okay for a cameo and has trained really well. ''There is competition for places and we want the best young Aussies here. Connor staked a claim when he came on against Sydney against some good players ''You want him to force himself forward for international recognition on a par with the other three because I think he is capable of doing it.'' The last time City faced Western Sydney they needed a last gasp winner to secure the points in a 4-3 triumph. Joyce would like things to be a bit more straightforward this time. ''We started that game well, scored early, took our foot off the pedal. We want to go there this time and be relentless, continue the form we have had for several weeks, go there and get a win.''

Is there a game on this weekend?

Yes but the question is why? A player that has a good relationship with his team mates, coach and club generally and is being looked after pay wise is most likely to stay with the club. If any one or more of those factors is not right, then yes they'll probably try and angle for a move out. From what I've read Bruno was liked by the playing group, Bratts and Jamo saying as much. Jamo came out saying that he hoped Bruno and Wazza could sit down and resolve things. So far we've seen this issue as one of Wazza vs Bruno but that might be too simplistic. Wazza may be carrying the can for the club as a whole and portraying it as a fitness/ attitude thing. So it would be then portrayed as Bruno not doing the right thing and letting the club down. But it may also be that Bruno was getting signals from Munn and Marwood that they were going to play hard ball with his marquee status - i.e. drop his wages. Remember his contract expires at the end of this season and he probably tried to start a conversation with the club about a new contract at the beginning of the season. He may have also had an offer from Sydney and he put that on the table to Munn and Marwood as a prompt to move discussions along. To which they responded in a negative way, from Bruno's perspective, which then careered out of control and lead to Wazza reading the riot act to Bruno asking him to concentrate on his on field stuff rather than off field 'distractions.' From then on it appears that nobody was going to back down. Anyway, I reckon there are a few angles on this issue, not just the fitness/attitude stuff that Wazza has talked about.

From the article "Interestingly, Joyce's family remain in the UK, making a return to Manchester even more tempting should the offer be made." And “I worked with him and it was the hardest training sessions and the hardest days you can ever imagine,” Solskjaer said. We hear you Ole. Wazza's best trait is as an enforcer at midweek training. That's what he excels at but not as a head coach/game day gaffer. CFG saddled us with a knob of a head coach on the basis that we needed cultural change. We could have got that and the chance to win silverware had we appointed, say, Popovic. We need to be run by local management not by out of touch suits at HQ 10,000 kms away.

Is it OK to take the rest of the day off to go see a shrink??? So much bullshit contained in this one photo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Confess to being exasperated at times with the way the City brains trust goes about things at times but you can't deny that they don't get out and about. In the city at QV centre yesterday.

Well Harrison’s volley technique deserved a goal even though Retre’s arse was a major assist.

This. The salary cap and visa quotas have not stopped Victory, SFC or any of the other clubs from winning silverware and qualifying for the ACL.

Love the optimism but heck I don’t see it but geez I’d be prepared to eat my hat if it happened

I tend to agree. Melbourne City and the whole Australian adventure for CFG gives the impression of being a low cost ‘puppy farm’ where aspiring young players are identified and then whisked away to a foreign land. I hope I’m wrong.

Turnover is also an A-league wide problem. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/players-leading-push-to-abolish-a-league-salary-cap-20190309-p512xh.html Players leading push to abolish A-League salary cap By Dominic Bossi March 9, 2019 — 5.29pm A week in which A-League clubs' ability to compete in Asia came under the microscope has coincided with a push to abolish the salary cap by the players themselves. After 15 years of strict financial regulations governing A-League player wages, the players' union, Professional Footballers Australia, is sewing the seeds for the removal of the cap when CBA negotiations begin with Football Federation Australia. Their motivation is to end the high turnover of players, improve the financial viability of the competition, increase player pathways and the development of youth in Australia. A report that will form the basis of their argument to gradually remove the salary cap contains significant research comparing the A-League's on- and off-field performance against other leagues and questions whether the A-League salary cap actually ensures competitive balance in football. "Fifteen years on, we operate the same model that has been tinkered with around the edges. It’s no longer fit for purpose. The current system is theoretically supported for two reasons. The first is competitive balance, which data over recent years will challenge. The second reason is club sustainability, yet the current model denies clubs access to potentially significant financial upside," PFA chief John Didulica said. The current regulations allow 23-man squads under a $3.03 million salary cap, of which two designated players can be paid outside, exceptions for long-serving players, homegrown players and mature-age rookies. Despite recent concessions, the A-League still has one of the highest rates of player turnover in world football. This year, almost two-thirds of the players in the competition are coming off contract, illustrating a culture where clubs resort to short-term deals. According to those working in the industry, that's largely perpetuated by the salary cap constraints. "If you look at the list of players that are out of contract every year it is frightening," player agent John Grimaud said. "That’s an indictment on the league and you wonder why we don’t get transfer fees for players. Clubs aren't inclined to scout properly so they don’t take risks with signing players. They sign them for one year and if they make it, good. If they don’t, they cut them and move on. That’s the problem with the salary cap." Australian football is missing out on significant revenue streams which the PFA claims is due to the salary cap. With short-term contracting so widespread, the A-League is missing out on the massive global spike in transfer fees. In the past six years, transfer fees received by Asian clubs has doubled from $84 million to $170m. Over that period, transfer revenue in the A-League fell from $3.7m to $2.6m. "The salary cap has proven to act as a barrier to our players developing as footballers, to clubs building sustainable businesses that capitalise on the growth of the global football economy and to our sport building better teams and competing – on all fronts – with greater success," Didulica said Against teams operating without salary cap restrictions and squad size constraints, Australian teams are falling behind in other income streams. In AFC Champions League performances bonuses and prize money, competing Australian teams received $326,000 last year. Japanese teams were rewarded with over $6m. By failing to retain more national team players, many of whom are no longer playing in high-profile European leagues, A-League teams are lagging behind in World Cup benefits paid by FIFA to clubs to compensate clubs for the number of players took part in the tournament. From the 2018 World Cup in Russia, $1.7m was paid to A-League teams, South Korean teams received $4.4m and J-League clubs were given $5.1m . Money aside, there are questions raised by the PFA over the competitive balance provided by the cap. According to PFA research, there is a greater proportion of games won by a margin of three goals or more in the A-League than the major five European leagues. The A-League has had a more varied list of winners, in part due to the final series, though Central Coast Mariners appear set to finish bottom for three of the past four seasons and the points ratio between wooden spooners and premiers has almost doubled in the past nine years. The clubs are yet to reach consensus on the future of the salary cap. Some appreciate the cost certainty. Others see it as preventing them from reaching their full potential and competing for silverware in Asia. United under the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association, the A-League club owners are split. The APFCA chairman, Western Sydney Wanderers owner Paul Lederer, says the matter remains a delicate topic within the group but one they must address in the near future. No consensus: Paul Lederer says the issue of the salary cap must be handled delicately among club owners. “It’s a major subject that has got to be considered very carefully," Lederer said. "There will be discussions in the next few weeks about that, probably very shortly as to where do we stand as clubs and what do we want to do.” They appear unanimous in relaxing the cap constraints. As part of their submission for a new A-League operating model, APFCA want to increase the number of foreign players in the A-League from the current limit of five and follow in the footsteps of the MLS in USA, where clubs have eight spots on average. However, if current trends are anything to go by, more foreigners means a higher wage bill. The A-League is on course to become independent from the FFA, giving clubs significantly more influence in the operations, rules and regulations of the competition meaning they might get their wish. Under the proposed new operating model, the FFA will - at the very least - retain a golden vote on the board of the new entity, enabling them to block or pass any motion or amendment. Already, the FFA is looking at ways on relaxing the tight restrictions on squads and salaries but are not yet willing to remove the cap entirely. "Don’t throw it away but fix it," Head of the A-League, Greg O'Rourke, said. "You’d want to make changes around home-grown talent, loyalty players, more investment in Australian players. You might want to talk about having more designated players in and out of the cap to build the quality of the product.”

The Mariners problems start with Mike Charlesworth who is running the show on a shoestring budget then a coach who has fallen out with the playing group witness Jack Clisby’s comments immediately after the game. Add the Usain Bolt distraction and you have a disaster. The alternate universe had Graham Arnold taking the team to silverware so things can turn around. But the Mariners current predicament might also point to the need to move to an independent A-league where owners can invest in their clubs and share in the returns that the league can generate rather than the FFA 100% dictating returns to the clubs. Salary cap is another issue and down the track full relegation and promotion that will make all games ‘matter’ rather than currently where there is no penalty for poor performance.

Mike gets a bit of stick on the Roar website but I’m OK with his piece. Overall it’s inline with the frustrations we feel here and importantly it’s being put out there on a general sports website. As Mike says, he had been approached by our club so Bundoora is hearing this stuff from supporters and the general public. I’m pleased with that.

We were unlucky.